Opposition Leader Alfred Sant yesterday accused the Malta Environment and Planning Authority of approving as many applications as possible just before the general election.

During a press conference held outside the Mepa offices, Dr Sant called for a full reform of the authority.

However, Mepa issued a statement in the afternoon saying that the number of applications approved this month is average when compared to other years. These numbers also include all the decisions taken by the Development Control Commission.

According to Mepa, 798 applications were approved in February 2006, 652 in February 2007, and 756 in February 2008.

Addressing journalists, Dr Sant pointed out that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi defended Mepa but is also promising a full reform.

Dr Sant referred to the resignation en masse of the Development Control Commission (A) that took place on Wednesday in reaction to an internal report issued by the auditor over illegalities involving a supermarket development application.

The opposition leader condemned the prime minister for not accepting the resignation of the board member who was not present and for reappointing new board members yesterday.

Dr Sant said the board was reappointed, just a week before the general election, “so that illegal applications will continue to be approved”.

“A number of permits are being pushed through – some of these are illegal. Instead of doing his job, the prime minister is making the situation worse,” he said.

Dr Sant said the number of approved permits doubled in February 2008 when compared to February 2007 – a clear indication that illegalities were being pushed through quickly before the general election.

Giving different figures from those that were supplied by Mepa later, Dr Sant said that 653 permits were approved in February 2007 while this year, 1,147 permits were approved in February.

These permits are being approved in an abusive way that does not respect democracy, said Dr Sant.

The opposition leader said the prime minister is already responsible for Mepa and through his actions he is tolerating corruption. He challenged Dr Gonzi to file another libel suit against him.

Nationalist Party MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando was also present for Dr Sant’s press conference. Afterwards he explained to the journalists that sources close to the opposition had informed him that Dr Sant was going to make certain unfair and untrue allegations about high-ranking people in the PN.

In fact, throughout the press conference Dr Sant passed certain remarks about Dr Pullicino Orlando “becoming a journalist”.

Dr Pullicino Orlando said he was present for the press conference to personally rebut any allegations about PN members.

He called on the Labour Party to shoulder their political responsibility and not indulge in any name-calling and also pointed out that the PN had always passed on any information with regard to corruption to the police commissioner.

Earlier, Dr Sant visited the business community in Republic Street and promised that a Labour government will improve competitiveness – especially for small businesses.